Here is our second beautiful spring salad from the weekend, a Thai Peanut Slaw. We came across some brilliant red cabbage at the market and decided this was a perfect ingredient to base a dish on and what better dish to make from red cabbage than cole slaw? Now you also have to factor in that Charisse loves Thai food, and is obsessed with anything peanut based. So when we were talking about what to make, Charisse said she wanted to recreate a slaw from a popular local restaurant, a Thai Peanut Salad. There are not many ingredients in this slaw, it's pretty basic full of crunchy cabbage, fresh cilantro and crushed peanuts, the flavor really comes from the dressing. No most cole slaws are identified as being a big pile of white goop, with some cabbage tossed in for color. Growing up neither of us really cared for the traditional cole slaw just for that reason. It always turns out pasty and gooey with way too much mayo (which doesn't pack any flavor, just fat). We kept the mayo to a minimum, which let this slaw have some extra pizazz and it would pair up great next to some BBQ chicken or fish! Actually I just ate it plain for lunch the next day and it was great! We dream of a Asian marinaded pulled pork sandwich with a big pile of this slaw stacked on top.
